The domestic equity benchmarks traded with major gains in the morning trade, supported by strong earnings from Reliance Industries and positive cues from Asian markets. However, rising geopolitical tensions between India and Pakistan, following last week's Kashmir attack, capped further upside. The Nifty traded above the 24,250 mark. Oil & Gas shares advanced after declining for the past two consecutive trading sessions.
At 10:30 ST, the barometer index, the S&P BSE Sensex, surged 735.61 points or 0.93% to 79,966.62. The Nifty 50 index jumped 208.90 points or 0.87% to 24,253.35.
In the broader market, the S&P BSE Mid-Cap index rose 0.63% and the S&P BSE Small-Cap index added 0.25%.
The market breadth was positive. On the BSE, 1,931 shares rose and 1,537 shares fell. A total of 239 shares were unchanged.
The NSE's India VIX, a gauge of the market's expectation of volatility over the near term, slipped 1.04% to 16.98.
Economy:
India’s foreign exchange reserves rose by $8 billion to a six-month high of $686 billion in the week ended April 18 on the back of a rise in gold reserves and foreign currency assets, the latest data by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) showed.
Foreign currency assets increased by $3.5 billion in the previous week. The rupee appreciated by 0.8% during the week.
Gold reserves increased by $4.5 billion during the week.
The special drawing rights (SDRs) were up $212 million to $18.5 billion. India's reserve position with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was also up by $7 million to $4.5 billion in the reporting week.
Result Today:
UltraTech Cement (up 0.56%), Aditya Birla Sun Life AMC (down 0.29%), Adani Green Energy (up 1.73%), Adani Total Gas (up 2.27%), CSB Bank (0.52%), Hexaware Technologies (down 2.18%), IDBI Bank (up 0.98% ), IRFC (up 0.16%), Oberoi Realty (up 1.11%), PNB Housing Finance (up 1.17%), TVS Motor Company (down 0.36%), Castrol India (up 2.06%), Central Bank of India (up 0.95%), Fino Payments Bank (up 4.33%), Firstsource Solutions (up 1.33%), Go Digit General Insurance (up 0.45%), Greenply Industries (down 0.05%), IIFL Capital Services (down 0.59%), Indegene (down 0.58%), KFin Technologies (up 2.41%), KPIT Technologies (down 1.52%), Nippon Life India Asset Management (down 1.01%) and UCO Bank (down 0.03%) will announce their quarterly earnings later today.
Buzzing Index:
The Nifty Oil & Gas index added 2.24% to 11,030.75. The index declined 1.53% in the past two consecutive trading sessions.
Reliance Industries (up 3.96%), Mahanagar Gas (up 3.27%), Indraprastha Gas (up 3.17%), Bharat Petroleum Corporation (up 2.35%), Hindustan Petroleum Corporation (up 2.26%), Adani Total Gas (up 2.22%), Castrol India (up 1.98%), GAIL (India) (up 1.94%), Oil & Natural Gas Corpn (up 1.38%) and Petronet LNG (up 1.24%) added.
On the other hand, Gujarat State Petronet (down 0.84%), Gujarat Gas (down 0.22%) edged lower.
Reliance Industries (RIL) jumped 3.96% after the company’s consolidated profit after tax and share of profit/(loss) of associates & JVs increased by 6.4% year-on-year to Rs 22,611 crore in Q4 March 2025 over Q4 March 2024.
During the quarter, RIL's gross revenue increased by 8.8% Y-o-Y to Rs 288,138 crore, while EBITDA increased by 3.6% Y-o-Y to Rs 48,737 crore. EBITDA margin contracted by 90 basis points Y-o-Y and by 1.1% quarter-on-quarter to 16.9%.
Meanwhile, RIL's board approved raising up to Rs 25,000 crore through issuance of listed, secured/unsecured, redeemable non-convertible debentures, in one or more tranches, on private placement basis. It also recommended a dividend of Rs 5.50 per equity share for the financial year ended 31 March 2025.
Further, the board approved acquisition of 100% equity stake of Kandla GHA Transmission Limited ("KGTL"), from PFC Consulting Limited ("PFCCL"), for an aggregate consideration not exceeding Rs 20 crore. This is in accordance with the terms of the tender awarded to the company, for establishment of turnkey construction of 765/400kV GIS substation at Kandla including transformers and reactors, 765kV transmission lines between Halvad and Kandla, 765kV Bay extension at Halvad and STATCOM. Post acquisition, KGTL will become a wholly owned subsidiary of the company. KGTL was incorporated in India on 27 November 2024 and is yet to commence commercial operations.
The said investment will enable the company to execute the Independent Transmission Project (ITP) "Transmission System for Supply of Power to Green Hydrogen / Ammonia manufacturing potential in Kandla area of Gujarat (Phase-I: 3 GW)".
Stocks in Spotlight:
DCB Bank rallied 5.43% after the bank’s standalone net profit jumped 13.74% to Rs 177.07 crore in Q4 FY25 as compared with Rs 155.68 crore in Q3 FY24. Total income increased 24.03% to Rs 1,960.71 crore in Q4 FY25 as against Rs 1580.82 crore in Q4 FY24.
Meanwhile, the bank’s board recommended a dividend of Rs 1.35 per share of face value of Rs 10 each subject to approval of the Shareholders at the ensuing Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Bank and other requisite approvals, if any. The dividend will be paid/despatched within the prescribed time, post approval of the Shareholders.
Further, the bank’s board approved the resolution for fund raising through the issuance of debt securities including unsecured redeemable non-convertible subordinated basel III compliant Tier II Bonds up to Rs 500 crore (with green shoe option) by way of private placement in one or more tranches during the period of one year from the conclusion of the 30th Annual General Meeting of the Bank, subject to approval of the shareholders of the Bank and any other regulatory approvals, as may be required under the applicable laws.
Furthermore, the board proposed to the members at the ensuing Annual General Meeting to raise of funds up to Rs 750 crore by way of issue of equity shares / other securities convertible into equity shares through Qualified Institutions Placement, as may be required by the Bank from time to time, subject to approval of the shareholders and other approvals, if any, as may be required under the applicable laws / regulations.
Tejas Networks tanked 9.51% after the company reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 71.80 crore in Q4 FY25 as against a net profit of Rs 146.78 crore posted in Q4 FY24. Total revenue from operations soared to Rs 1,906.94 crore in Q4 FY25 from Rs 1,326.88 crore recorded in the corresponding quarter the previous year.
Meanwhile, the board has recommended a dividend of 25% (Rs 2.5/share), subject to the approval of the shareholders.
Bank of Maharashtra rose 1.38% after the bank reported a standalone net profit of Rs 1,493.08 crore in Q4 FY25, registering a growth of 22.61% as against Rs 1,217.67 crore posted in Q4 FY24. Total income jumped 18.85% to Rs 7,711.44 crore in the fourth quarter of FY25 as against Rs 6,488.25 crore posted in the corresponding quarter the previous year.
Meanwhile, the bank recommended a dividend of 15%, i.e., Rs 1.50 per equity share of Rs 10 each, fully paid out of the net profits for the year ended 31 March 2025, subject to the approval of the shareholders at the ensuing annual general meeting (AGM) of the bank.